AMP Capital Investors chief economist Shane Oliver said the
reporting season should show continued strong profit growth but
could be polarised between strong profits for miners and softer
results for domestic cyclicals.

He said the year-end target of 4450 points for the ASX 200
index, which closed up 27.8 points at 4371 on Friday, was starting
to look conservative.

"However, the ride for Australian shares is likely to be rocky
over the next few months as global shares remain volatile and
profit warnings flow locally from domestically exposed cyclical
stocks," Dr Oliver said.

CommSec equities economist Carl Jensen said the focus would be
on the latest inflation readings on Wednesday which he expects to
come in at 0.9 per cent, translating to an annual rate of 2.8 per
cent.

"The current inflation rate stands at 2.4 per cent, still well
within the Reserve Bank of Australia's preferred 2-3 per cent
target band," Mr Jensen said.

Commonwealth Bank chief economist Michael Blythe said the
housing component was likely to make a positive contribution to CPI
growth.

"Residential vacancy rates appear to be falling and anecdotes
are now emerging about rising rents," Mr Blythe said.